Born Gusti Nina Graboi in Vienna in 1918, Nina escaped Nazi occupation in the late 1930s, living as a refugee in Europe before immigrating to the United States with her husband and settling in New York in the early 1940s. Through the 1950s and 60s, Graboi studied theology and meditation, Buddhism and Hinduism, and psychedelics, becoming close friends with Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, and Alan Watts. She moved to Santa Cruz in 1979, where she worked for UCSC math professor Ralph Abraham and lectured on connections between spirituality and the psychedelic experience until her death in 1999.
The 17 box collection of Nina Graboi’s personal papers range from the 1960s to the 1990s, and include Graboi’s written materials, correspondence (including correspondence with Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, and Albert Hofmann), photographs, posters, Graboi’s office files, and audiovisual media.
Established in 1929, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) is a national organization whose ongoing mission is to secure and maintain the civil rights of Japanese Americans and all others who are victimized by injustice and bigotry. The leaders and members of the JACL also work to promote cultural, educational and social values and preserve the heritage and legacy of the Japanese American community. The Watsonville-Santa Cruz Chapter of the JACL has played a vital role in the history of the Japanese community in the Pajaro Valley over the last several decades.
This collection of 5 boxes contains the records of the Watsonville-Santa Cruz Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League. The records include meeting minutes, conference materials, newsletters, and interviews of organizational leaders, members and WWII Nisei veterans.
Learn more about the JACL on their website, and the Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL chapter website.
The land on which we gather is the unceded territory of the Awaswas-speaking Uypi Tribe. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, comprised of the descendants of indigenous people taken to missions Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista during Spanish colonization of the Central Coast, is today working hard to restore traditional stewardship practices on these lands and heal from historical trauma.
The land acknowledgement used at UC Santa Cruz was developed in partnership with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band Chairman and the Amah Mutsun Relearning Program at the UCSC Arboretum.